Private Conflict
by Yel Ashaya
Summary: Being radiation-retardant, Data and Ensign Monroe are ordered to rescue Captain Picard after he goes missing before a peace conference. Data helps tech-fearing Monroe & saves her life. When their mission goes awry, can they help each other in an alien jail cell, or will Monroe's future lie elsewhere? An illness plagues the ship, but could it be a blessing in disguise? Please R&R.:)
1. The mission

Captain Jean-Luc Picard sighed. It was both a sigh of relief and of slight annoyance. He had barely even managed to get half way into his book when the interruption came. He was fed up with the interruptions he had had lately. Only yesterday, commander Riker had visited his ready room with a question on his mind regarding whether or not the captain thought Deanna Troi would like to be more than friends. Furthermore, commander Data, the ship's android second officer, had come to the captain asking for advice regarding humour and, even more peculiar, romance. Feeling rather uncomfortable with talking about matters of love with Data, Picard finally succeeded in managing to get the ship's counsellor to talk to the troubled android.

As he finished reading the sentence which he was currently on, he carefully slipped the thick bookmark into the book and then shut it. Picard frowned as he pressed the button on his personal computer, which would open the comm channel on his end.

He studied the expression of the man who was sat in front of him, in the screen. He was an elderly man, one who had the scrawny, tired looking appearance of a man who had quite obviously spent a little too much time in the sun, with no protection. However, he was pale, very pale. He wore a blood red uniform, with a sparkly collar; symbolic of a Starfleet Admiral.

The elderly man on the computer monitor began to talk. His tone of voice was cold and sullen. Picard could tell, before he had even began to speak, that the news he was going to receive would not be of the cheerful kind. "Captain Picard," the man said sternly, "As I'm sure you know, your ship is the only federation vessel within fifty light-years of the twin planets Hypnos and Thanatos."

Captain Picard sighed, deep in thought. "Ah… Greek mythology," he mused quietly. He could remember quite clearly of the twins from ancient Earth mythology who were the sons of the god Erebos and the goddess Nyx.

The man ignored the captain's odd observation and then proceeded to continue with what he was saying, "For some time, Hypnos and Thanatos have been engaged in a bitter conflict."

"Yes, yes," Picard said, nodding, as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I've heard about that."

"However," the man on the monitor continued," it is not so much a war of the physical and military kind. It is more a war of the physiological type."

Picard frowned at the man's explanation. He was unsure of what he meant. "What do you mean by that?" Picard asked, a little confused.

"The segregation of these two peoples is almost immeasurable. They are prejudice and highly xenophobic. Your vessel has been delegated by Starfleet Command to act as intermediary between these two conflicting races," the man explained as best he could.

"I see," Picard said, still stroking his chin with a still rather perplexed and unconvinced expression on his face.

"There is a peace conference taking place on the moon of the first planet from the parent star. It is neutral and uninhabited. That is why Starfleet has chosen this satellite in particular to host the highly important conference. You will be expected to arrive at the moon, Charon, in five days."

Captain Picard sighed once again. It was beginning to look like he would never get to finish his book anytime soon. He nodded in agreement at response to the admiral's words. He was going to smile but, to be perfectly honest, he didn't really feel like doing so, so he didn't.

The man on the screen nodded as well, and then said quietly and sternly, "Starfleet out." The screen then subsequently went black and Picard pushed the computer monitor away from him, further to the back of the desk. He then picked up his book and managed to finish reading his chapter. Nothing much more had actually happened in his book, which made him even more frustrated than he already was. Maybe, he decided, it was because of the fact that he had read the book many times and now, he was reading it for at least a fifth time, and if not, more.


	2. Concern for the captain

The Enterprise's captain studied the face of his crewmembers as they sat in a circle around the large table of the main conference room. Some of the faces wore expressions of dread, some of excitement and one person had the expression of neutrality. It seemed as though nothing was bothering him at the moment and that nothing could bother him in the future. It was, of course, lieutenant commander Data, as Picard had to remind himself. "I presume you all know why you've been called here," the captain said as he looked at every individual briefly who was sat around the table in front of him.

They all nodded and commander Riker was the first of them to actually speak. "Sir, if I may…" he waited for captain Picard's approval and when it came in the firm of a slight but still quite distinguishable nod, he continued, "Why are we getting involved in this thing in the first place?"

Picard formed a steeple with his fingers and placed them firmly on the desk in front of him, thinking deeply for a short moment. "What do you mean, Number One?" He asked his first officer.

"Well," Riker carried on, "These two planets, what were they called again? Apollo and Artemis or something?"

Picard sighed and replied to the commander, correcting his ridiculous but quite obviously purposeful mistake, "No, commander. They are called Hypnos and Thanatos."

"Ah, well… I was half right," Riker said, defending his words. "They're not Federation planets are they?" He asked, his eyes were full of uncertainty and scepticism.

The captain looked over at the golden skinned android, who was sat in the chair next to Riker. He could tell that Data wanted to say something, so he prompted him, "Mr Data?"

The android nodded, and then placed his hands firmly on the table. "Sir," he said, looking over at commander Riker carefully, "the Federation charter states that any planet which has traded with or is currently trading with a Federation member planet, must be allowed aid from Federation sources." Data displayed a very brief and very small smile, obviously quite satisfied with his explanation, which was actually word for word from the Federation charter.

Riker nodded and said, "I see."

"But, who have these planets traded with?" It was Geordi La Forge who had asked the question. It seemed to be aimed at no one in particular.

Data paused for a moment and then attempted to answer his friend's question. "Thanatos has been known to Trade with Vulcan and Hypnos used to trade with the Trill home world and, centuries ago, sources suggest that it also traded with the Cardassian Empire."

Counsellor Deanna Troi nodded and then added to Data's explanation, "I remember mother once telling me that Thanatos traded with Betazed."

Data nodded in agreement with Troi's addition. "That is correct, counsellor."

Captain Picard then endeavoured to continue on with the meeting. "Starfleet Command has told me that we are to act as intermediary between the people of Thanatos and the People of Hypnos. I will select an away team, closer to the time of the conference, to beam down with me." He looked at the faces of the people at the table with him. They all appeared as though the understood what they said, except for one officer, Reginald Barclay. But, he usually looked confused, so Picard ignored that and said firmly, "Dismissed."

Commander Riker waited for everyone to leave the conference room and then walked over to the captain. "Captain?"

"Yes, Number One?" Picard looked up at his first officer, expectantly.

"I can't say that I'm all that convinced about what we're doing here," Riker said as he knitted his brows ever so slightly.

Picard walked over to the large, floor to ceiling window and stared out at the stars, almost dreamily. "Whatever do you mean, Number One?" He asked.

"I'm not sure whether we should be getting involved. I mean, it's their problem to sort out, isn't it?" He asked the captain.

"I understand, Will," the captain said reassuringly, dropping to a more informal and casual tone of voice this time. "But, Starfleet have told us what to do, and, at the end of the day, we have to obey their orders."

"I know that, sir," Riker said loudly and defiantly, before lowering his tone considerably.

Picard attempted a smile and then announced, "It will be fine, Number One."

Riker tried to smile back, but he wasn't really all that convinced. He left the room deep in thought and consideration.


	3. Bitter disputes

The bridge crew of the starship Enterprise waited eagerly for the main view screen to come on. Only a few moments ago, Lieutenant Worf had announced that the presidents of the planets Thanatos and Hypnos wished to speak to them. The screen flickered ever so slightly, and then two figures appeared on the screen. The figure on the left hand side was a man, who appeared to be no older than thirty years of age. He had short blonde hair and his skin was pure green in colour it. The man on the other side, however, had skin which seemed to be of a more white type hue and he appeared to be much older, maybe middle aged.

"This is Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the Federation starship, the USS Enterprise." He paused and then continued, "To whom have I the pleasure of speaking?"

The blonde man was the first to talk. "Greetings," he said in a polite tone of voice, "I am Myklos, president of Thanatos.

Captain Picard walked up closer to the view screen and nodded in acknowledgment of the man's presence.

Then, it was the other man's turn to talk. "I am Jevail, president of the planet Hypnos."

"I presume you are aware of our predicament," the younger alien man said. His eyes were bright blue and his skin was so smooth that it could easily have been made of porcelain.

The president of Hypnos glared, annoyed, at the younger man. "It is not a predicament," he said firmly. "It is war!" He shouted this time.

"Which your people have started!" The man with the blonde hair argued.

Just as president Jevail was about to dispute Myklos' claim, Picard held up his hands, displaying authority and trying to maintain some sort of order. "I have been told that my crew is to act is intermediary between your two people."

They both nodded solemnly, trying not to look at each other properly.

"Now," Picard continued, "Whatever your quarrel is, I am sure it can be rectified one way or another. Tomorrow, an away team lead by myself will beam down to Charon to attend the peace conference."

The younger man looked at the middle aged one, who interjected, "Captain, with all due respect, we both have decided that we wish for only you to attend the conference."

Riker frowned and walked up to his captain. "I'm not sure this is a good idea," he said in a low register and as quietly as he could.

"I understand your concern, Number One," Picard replied in normal volume. He then turned to face the view screen again and replied firmly, "I accept you terms. I will arrive shortly."

"Thank you, captain," the mysterious alien men said.

Once the screen had gone black, Riker looked over at Deanna, who bore a very thoughtful and inquisitive expression on her face. He asked her, being quite interested by how she was acting, "Deanna?"

She looked up at him, "Yes?"

"You ok there?" He asked.

"I'm fine," she reassured him, smiling.

He frowned. He had known her far too long to just leave it there. "You looked a little… preoccupied."

"Oh, did I?" Deanna asked the rhetorical question. "I didn't mean to. I was just thinking."

"Did you sense something?" He asked her, reproachfully.

She smiled and shook her head, "No, nothing that we should be alarmed about. I was just thinking about how handsome Myklos is."

Riker said no more but rolled his eyes and leant back in the first officer's comfortable chair.


	4. A problematic departure

Captain Picard was stood in the main shuttle bay of the starship Enterprise. He wasn't nervous, for he had no need to be. At least, he wasn't particularly nervous about going to the moon to attend the peace conference; he knew that shuttlecrafts were perfectly safe. They were even safer than transporting down. However, he was nervous about actually going to the conference itself. He had never really done anything quite like it. The closest he had gotten, so he believed, was when he had to try and convince the Q Continuum why one of their troublesome people should be allowed to have his powers back. That had happened only a year ago, but still, Picard wasn't entirely sure whether or not he really was doing the right thing. Commander Riker's words of warning may have, at first, seemed to him to just be down to nerves. But, now, Picard was starting to see the wisdom in what his first officer had said.

Lieutenant commander Data frowned at the uncertain expression of his captain. "Sir?" He enquired carefully.

Picard blinked and then registered the android's voice. "Oh… yes, commander? What is it?"

Data's head twitched a little, an involuntary spasm, and then he replied, "Are you ready to board the shuttlecraft?"

"Yes… yes," Picard said quietly and a bit preoccupied.

Riker raised an eyebrow at the captain's odd tone of voice, "Captain? Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Number One. Just a little nervous, that's all."

Riker nodded, feeling reassured. He knew that Deanna would be able to sense if Picard was really having second thoughts and he knew that she would probably tell him if that were the case. Thankfully though, it wasn't.

Picard stepped into the shuttlecraft and bade his officers that were present farewell. Once in the craft, he walked the short distance to the control seat and then sat down and prepared to ready the vehicle for take-off.

Riker gave the order for everyone to leave the shuttle bay, and they all did. They didn't want to be sucked out into the unforgiving vacuum of space when the cargo bay doors opened. Once he was sure that everyone had left the shuttle bay, including himself, Riker gave the order for the captain to begin departure procedures.

As he looked out at the black nothingness which was space, lieutenant commander Data thought quietly and deeply to himself. He was a curious person, by nature, but he was also quite a reserved and conscientious person too. For a split second, he found his thoughts to be about his brother. It had been over three and a half years since he and his brother, Lore, had met for the first time. Data had, without even a moment's thought, ejected Lore into the vacuum of space. He always wondered, whenever he happened to look out of the windows, which was quite often, what had really happened to his brother. All of those thoughts were processed in under 0.87 seconds, but it seemed like an eternity for the android. Geordi noticed Data's strange expression. "You all right, Data?"

The android looked up, to see Geordi's uncertain face. "Yes, Geordi, I am fine."

"Now," Picard said tentatively through the microphone in the shuttlecraft, "I'm not sure how long this is going to take. My best guess is that it shouldn't be more than a few hours."

Riker noted the captain's voice, "Understood, sir. Enterprise out."

Inside the shuttlecraft, Picard found it to be rather lonely. He had never really found himself to be particularly partial to the company of another, yet he felt a little odd. He had always, for the past four years, when he had been serving on board Starfleet's flagship, the USS Enterprise, been surrounded by the crew and civilians of the ship; the total of which was more or less one and a half thousand people of many different and unique alien species.

He wandered around the shuttlecraft, looking at various things. There was nothing that was even of the slightest bit of interest to him, nonetheless, he was just trying to pass the time. The shuttlecraft could not go very fast by twenty fourth century standards. It had a top speed of only warp two. The destination, which was the small, rocky moon Charon, was more than fifty light years away. It would, therefore, take little less than a week to get there.

Picard smacked his lips and sighed. He was thirsty. In fact, he had been thirsty for quite some time, but, because of all of his worries and apprehension about attending this peace conference, he had actually managed to forget to drink. He decided that now was the correct time for him to satisfy his dehydrated mouth. He switched on the food replicator and said, "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot."

Less than what seemed to be only a few miniscule seconds, fragrant earl grey tea, served in a spotless snowy tea cup, complete with saucer, appeared on top of the dispenser tray. Picard bent over and took the warm beverage into his hands, savouring every drop. Of course, he knew that he could always have more, as the replicators had a basically inexhaustible supply, but he felt as though this particular cup was special and he wanted to make sure it lasted.

"Computer," he began to talk loudly as he held his tea steadily in one hand, "How long until we reach Charon?"

The shuttlecraft's computer systems buzzed and chirped for a short while, before the bland, emotionless and rather non-descript female voice of the computer answered him, "Four days, six hours, seven minutes and forty three point—"

Picard cut the computer's exact answer off short, "Thank you." He leant back in his chair and sighed loudly. It was certainly going to be a long journey. He wished that he had brought an away team with him. He didn't much favour the idea of having to spend the best part of a week cooped up inside a not so state of the art shuttlecraft with no one to talk to. Even lieutenant commander Data's odd company would have been welcomed by the captain at this point. He was actually starting to wonder if he should have sent Data off on this mission in the first place. But, then again, the Thanatosians and Hypnites would realise sooner or later that the peculiar, yet highly intelligent android was not the Enterprise's captain.

His eyes were just about to close, so he could eventually take part in a long awaited sleep when something caught his attention. The shuttlecraft shook rather too violently for his liking and he jumped out of his seat. Picard looked out of one of the many windows of the shuttlecraft and gazed both in despair and wonder. The twin planets, Hypnos and Thanatos, were very beautiful worlds, or they would have been if it weren't for all the toxic clouds of gases and poisons which were actually visible from space. Picard wasn't even in orbit, or even that close to the two planetary bodies, yet he was still able to see the devastating effect that this conflict was having on these two peoples. The gas clouds were mouldy yellow in colour. They were quite obviously polluting not only the air but also people's minds. Picard sighed at the sight he saw. It really was quite pitiful indeed.

All of a sudden, a bright light became visible on his arm. To Picard's surprise and slight worry, the light began to show all over his body. He looked into the window and saw the faint outline of his reflection. He saw that even his face was glowing in a strange sort of bluish emerald tinge. Slowly, his surroundings; the shuttlecraft interior, the planets in the distance; became blurred and almost incomprehensible. He closed his eyes for just one fraction of a seemingly everlasting second and when he opened them again, all he could see was nothing. It was completely and utterly pitch black. The air was cold and he couldn't help but cough. His eyes began to sting and he instinctively rubbed them furiously, which almost staunched the pain.


	5. Too young to fight

The young soldier shook his head sorrowfully and rapidly. He looked up at his comrade and he felt a tear fall from his eye. He reached up to try and catch it, but his hands were so caked in blood and in dirt, that he resisted and let the salty tear fall to the ground. The other soldier reached out his hand and placed it firmly on his friend's shoulder. He said calmly, "We must go."

The younger officer sniffed and replied quietly, "We cannot. We can't leave him." He looked down at the battered body of the other soldier.

"Aeson is dead, Kiros," the soldier said. "We have to go."

"He is my brother!" Kiros shouted back angrily. "I will not listen to you, Attica."

"You must," Attica replied in as firm and as authoritative voice as he could manage to muster. "We have to leave. Aeson is dead, Kiros. We have to go."

"Why?" Kiros demanded. "Why?"

"We will die if we stay here any longer. Can you not hear the bombs? Can you not hear the cannons getting closer and closer with every shot that is fired?" Attica said bravely.

Kiros sniffed again and sighed quietly. "I will go." He took one last look at his fallen brother and made an attempt at composing himself. It wasn't that good and it wouldn't last long, but it would have to do.

"Good," Attica said, trying to attempt some sort of a smile.

"You are elder," Kiras pointed out as he and Attica trekked carefully across the barren land of Thanatos, "so, therefore, you must be wiser."

Attica smiled at him. "That is what you would think."

Kiras jumped over what looked like a mine and quickly caught up with Attica. "Why are we and the Hypnites at war?"

"I do not know why," Attica said sadly. The confusion was etched into his face.

"You don't? Then, who does?" Kiras asked curiously.

Attica reached up and shoved a stray strand of blonde hair out of his face. "I don't know the answer to that, unfortunately," he admitted.

"Attica!" Kiras said quietly and warningly. Attica, hearing the distress and worry in the younger officer's voice stood still where he was and whispered back, "Kiras? What is it? What's wrong?"

"I think… I think we're being watched."

The elder officer frowned, unconvinced. "Why do you say that?"

"I heard something move in that bush over there," Kiras said as he pointed over to a shrub towards the near west, which looked as though it had quite obviously seen better days.

Attica nodded in agreement with Kiras and then proceeded to walk over to where the bush was, as quietly as he found possible. He reached down and picked up a spindly, moss covered stick and began to poke the bush with it. Nothing happened at once, but then, all of a sudden, something in the bush moved. A few dozen metres away in the distance, Kiras was just about getting ready to shut his eyes tightly when a small cat ran out of the shrubbery.

"Phew!" Attica said, plainly relieved. "Thank god it wasn't the enemy!"

Kiras smiled, also thankful that there was nothing worse than a mangy, old, ginger and grey cat in that bush.

After a few hours of silent and very cautious walking, Kiras asked, "Should we find somewhere to camp?"

"That sounds like a good idea. I don't know where base camp is, though," he said worriedly as he scanned the derelict area.

"It is back in that direction," Kiras replied, gesturing over to what was once a busy town centre. "But it is too far for us to reach. It would probably take as weeks on foot."

Attica nodded. "Who do you know that?"

"I like Geography," Kiras admitted, nonchalantly. He kicked a solitary stone as hard as he could with his tired foot and watched it skim across the parched landscape.

"Really? You never really seemed like the Geography type," Attica observed, arching an eyebrow.

"I not I'm not well-exercised like you or anything, but I do have a brain." Kiras had always been jealous of Attica, ever since they had met only a year ago at the military training facility of Thanatos. Attica was built like an athlete, with firm cheekbones and powerful arms. Kiras, on the other hand, was much more averagely built. He was very slim and his hair was more or less all over the place. He was not particularly fit and had only gotten into the army because his parents had simply begged the authorities to let him in. Otherwise, he would have been viewed as too weak to enrol. Now, though, he really was starting to regret ever wanting to take part.

"What's wrong?" Attica asked, noticing Kira's sad expression.

"Nothing, really," Kiras replied, before adding, "I guess I just expected it to be fun to be here and to be doing this. I thought we were fighting for what was right and for what we believe in. But, now, I'm not so sure."

"I understand," Attica replied. He studied their harsh surroundings, until his eyesight fell upon a dirty, rather unkempt looking building. It was grey in colour, but whether that was simply natural or because of all the pollution and conflict, Attica could not tell for sure. "Look, there!" He said as he pointed to the dilapidated building.

"So?" Kiras replied, frowning at the horrible abode which he saw.

"We can stay there, if there's no one home."

Kiras nodded reluctantly and followed Attica over to the building. Attica carefully pushed the door open and found that no one was there.

Kiras sighed as he flopped down on a chair, which was actually rather uncomfortable, but he didn't care. He was too tired to care. "We can get some well-earned rest here!" He exclaimed.

"Certainly," Attica said.

Kiras closed his eyes and tried to shut his eyes as tightly as he possibly could. However, he couldn't even manage to bring himself to do that. His mind was too awake and his body was too alert. What if they were not alone? What if there were spies out there? A Hypnite could be skulking around outside the dilapidated building in which they slept right at that moment. Kiras groaned with a mixture of weariness and desperation. He was extremely tired, but he couldn't sleep. He cast his gaze over to Attica, who was fast asleep and snoring very loudly. "Attica?" Kiras ventured carefully and quietly.

Attica coughed and rolled over. There were no beds, so he had chosen to lie on the floor, with Kiras taking the tattered old chair over in the far corner. He opened his eyes and was very thankful for the fact that he didn't have to adapt to the light, for it was as dark inside the building as it was outside the building. "What is it?" He asked quietly and tiredly.

"I can't sleep," Kiras admitted as he craned his head so that he could get a better look of the stars out of the window. Once, only a few years ago, he used to be able to look out of his bedroom window and he would be greeted by a wonderful sight. He would see the ice volcanoes of his Thanatos' moon, Theia, erupting every night and he would see the many constellations that lit up the dim sky. Now, though, all he would see would be the clouds of toxic gases that surrounded his home world. Whenever he even took a step outside, his eyes would feel like mild burning and his throat would feel stuck. However, he had begun to get used to it and now, it was almost starting to feel normal.

Attica moaned uncomfortably, saying quietly, "What do you want me to do about it?" He sat up and tried to change his sleeping position. He was using his provisions bag as a makeshift pillow, and it certainly was not very comfortable. All of the things in there, though, were not his. He and Kiras had been a group of at least ten soldiers. Five of them had died, including Kiras' older brother, Aeson, and the rest had either been taken prisoner or had deserted and run away. So, Attica had taken what he could. He needed to stay alive, whatever the cost may be.

"I don't know," Kiras whispered, sighing. He fixed his gaze out of the window. "I wonder whether we will ever get there," he said rather dreamily and expectantly.

Attica tried to plump his makeshift pillow, and when he was slightly more comfortable then he was before, lay flat on his back. "Where?" He asked.

"To the stars," Kiras said, as if it were blatantly obvious.

"Why would you want to go up there?" Attica asked plainly. "Everything and everyone down there comes to us."

"Like what? The Ferengi? The Romulans?" Kiras retorted spitefully. "What help are they?"

"Not everyone is that bad, Kiras," Attica said as comfortingly as he could. "You have to realise that. Those people from Starfleet, they will help us," he reminded him.

The younger soldier sighed and then subsequently slumped back into his chair. "I know that. But, I still can't sleep." He looked down at his dirty nails and scarred hands. He had seem so much in the past few months and all he wanted now was to get just one night of pure and relaxing sleep. His uniform was tattered and his utility belt was hanging down by his side, as all of the stitching had come loose. His handheld phaser had only one or two shots left in it, and he was saving them for when he may really need it. The only thing he had on him that was a small first aid kit which was supplied to all Thanatosian soldiers as standard issue. Although, to his surprise and gratefulness, his boots did fit and were actually rather comfortable, and probably were in desperate need of a wash.

Attica muttered something to himself and then replied, only a little louder and in a rather mocking tone of voice, "Well, what can I do? You're not a baby, Kiras. I can't look after you."

Kiras nodded and the sunk his head into his tired shoulders. He was not a baby, but he was barely even a man. He was only at the young age of nineteen and Attica was only a little older, at twenty two. His brother had been twenty five when he had died, Kiras couldn't help but to wonder if he, himself, would be older than Aeson when the time came for him to die.

He had no family. At least, none that were worth mentioning. His mother and father had been killed when a photon torpedo fired by the Hypnites, had struck their neighbourhood. Kiras and Aeson had been unharmed because they were at military school, on the other side of the planet when it had happened. Kiras had had a lot of friends, because he didn't have much in the way of a family. He had always loved his mother, but his father was not as gentle as she was. He was much more violent and had a very short temper. In a way, Kiras was thankful that he had died, but regretted the fact that his mother had too. Every single time he thought of here, a lump began to form in his throat and he would cry, sometimes only on the inside, but sometimes it would be uncontrollable.

Kiras had a few close friends. He had met them all at the academy, including the one who he thought would be his future wife. Usually, females were not allowed in the military school, but because the Thanatosians had a population of only two billion and the Hypnites had a population of a little less than three billion, they had been permitted to enrol. However, she had been missing in action for quite some time, over three weeks, so he had given up most hope. His other two most close friends, Ophion and Leto, had been killed and the whereabouts of Themis and Erebos was not known. Now, he only had Attica for company and friendship.

Kiras stopped his train of thought and then quickly nodded in response to Attica's rude, yet truthful statement and then closed his eyes. He tried his hardest to get some rest and, after a lot of painstaking frustration, he finally managed to slip into slumber.


	6. Acquainting

Chapter 6: Acquainting

Commander William T. Riker frowned heavily and began to stroke his beard in a series of smooth, continuous motions. Seated next to him, Deanna Troi did not have to ask him what was worrying him; she could tell. Riker noticed her disapproving glance which was quite obviously directed at him and said, trying to vent out his frustration somehow, "Deanna, I know you want to say something."

She raised an eyebrow and the let out a short and high pitched chuckle. "I wasn't going to say anything, Will." The captain wasn't with them, so she thought they could forget with the usual formalities.

"Well, it seemed as though you were," he said plainly as he stared out at the stars streaming across the sky as the Enterprise sped through space at maximum warp.

She smiled and looked him straight in the eye, "I wouldn't need to have telepathy to notice that you were worried about something."

"I know, sorry," Riker said apologetically. "I'm just worried about the captain. We haven't heard from him for over a week. It shouldn't have taken him that long."

"Will," Deanna said carefully, "the journey there was supposed to take that long, was it not?"

Then, at that moment, Riker remembered that she was right. He had always trusted Deanna. After all, she was the ship's counsellor, but, something still told him that something had gone wrong. He thought for a moment, carefully, but only quite briefly and then asked, "Data? How long was the journey to Charon expected to take?"

The golden skinned android, who was, as always, positioned at the Ops console, keyed a command quickly and almost effortlessly into computer and, when he had gotten a response, turned to face the commander. "Approximately five days, sir. However, if you would rather I gave you a more exact answer, then I would—"

Riker cut him off, with a brief raise of his right hand. "Thank you, Data. That will be fine."

The android turned to face his station at the helm console, before twitching his head slightly and turning back around to face the first officer and Deanna Troi. "But, sir, it has been over six and a half days since the captain left."

Riker nodded and then sighed, concerned and frustrated. "I know." He paused for a short moment and then asked the Klingon officer who was stood towards the back of the bridge, "Mr Worf, can we send a message to the captain's shuttlecraft?"

The Klingon studied the tactical display console which was lain out in front of him and then replied loudly, "Yes, sir."

"Do it," Riker said, feeling a sensation of something akin to pride. He had wanted to say 'make it so', but he managed to refrain himself from doing so. Besides, it only really sounded good when the captain said it.

The Klingon acknowledged the commander's request and the proceeded to carry out all the necessary calculations. "Sir, we are getting no reply."

"Try again, Mr Worf," Riker ordered. He was beginning to get tense and he was starting to show it.

Worf nodded curtly. He attempted to hail the captain again, but nothing happened. "Sir, there still is no response."

"Maybe it's the radiation…" Riker thought out loud.

Lieutenant commander Data, with his superhuman hearing heard this and decided that he should put the first officer and now, acting captain, straight. "Commander, that is not possible. The radiation emitted by that star is not able to interfere with subspace or even radio communications."

"Ok then," Riker said firmly as he formed a steeple out of his hands on the large table of the conference room. "For some time, we haven't heard from the captain. And, I think it's safe to say that we don't know where he is or what has happened to him."

Deanna frowned and she could already sense the feelings of dread and concern which were being so very strongly emitted by everyone in the room, with the exception of lieutenant commander Data, of course.

Riker continued with his speech, "As we are not at a distance close enough to the planetary body of Charon to transport down, we must think of some other method of getting there." He looked at the faces of everyone who was sat at the table with him. He desperately wanted someone to come up with a safe and preferably quite viable answer.

"We could send a shuttle," Geordi La Forge suggested. He wondered why no one else had thought of that originally. It made perfect sense to send a shuttle. They were small and reliable and the Enterprise had quite a lot of them at hand.

"That would be inadvisable," Data said, warningly. "The radiation would be fatal to any humanoid life forms."

Geordi moaned quietly and then sat back in his chair. Riker started to tap his fingers on the desk, until he felt Deanna's hand on his arm and he managed to refrain from doing it anymore.

"What would you suggest then, Data?" The first officer asked expectantly. He was hoping for a good answer and was sure that the android could provide one.

The android shook his head slowly. "I do not have another suggestion, commander."

Riker felt his heart sink and his face definitely showed it. Data, nevertheless, picked up his point, saying, "However, I will volunteer to go in the shuttlecraft."

"I thought you said that the radiation would kill us," Riker said, concerned and confused.

Data nodded politely. "I did. However, I was referring to the fact that it would prove fatal to yourselves." When he said that, he noticed Worf's mouth tremble slightly; he was quite obviously annoyed and was therefore muttering something under his breath.

"What do you mean?" Riker asked, arching an eyebrow as he did so.

"I did not mean to cause offence," Data responded quickly and in his usual polite tone of voice. "I simply meant that, whilst the radiation would prove to be fatal to people, for me, it should be tolerable."

"And," Riker said cautiously, "you would be happy to go?"

The android nodded defiantly. "If I can offer assistance in any way during our search for Captain Picard, then my abilities are at your disposal."

"I don't suppose it would bother you that you would have to go alone, would it?" Riker asked, waiting for a reply. He knew the answer would probably be negative.

"I do not require companionship, therefore, I would not be affected personally if I had to go alone," Data responded simply.

Just at that moment, Beverly Crusher intervened, saying, "I wouldn't be so sure that Data has to go by himself."

"Who could possibly survive the radiation?" Deanna asked her friend, intrigued. "I know of no species who could withstand such a thing."

Beverly smiled at the counsellor. "That's what you would think. But, one crewmember could. In fact, I know she could."

"Who?" Asked Riker.

"Ensign Monroe," Beverly Crusher explained. "She came aboard from star base eleven."

Riker frowned, unconvinced at the doctor's words. "How could she survive? She's human, isn't she?"

"She is human, commander," the doctor replied. "However, before she was born, her cells were genetically enhanced."

"That's impossible!" Lieutenant Worf retorted, a bit louder than he was expecting. He had read everything there was to know about Khan. He didn't like the idea of another person with the ability to overpower him, let alone a human female.

Beverly shook her head and replied, "No, it's not impossible. But, it is illegal."

"Should we not report her or something?" Geordi asked, confused.

"We can't," Beverly replied. "She was born on the troubled, yet very advanced colony Tau Cygni V. It freed itself from Federation rule over fifty years ago, so Starfleet has no jurisdiction."

"I see," Riker said as he mused over what to do.

"I shouldn't have told you all that," Beverly admitted. "I only said it because I had to. I was betraying patient-doctor confidentiality."

"Well, thank you, doctor," commander Riker said, pleased.

Data raised a finger slightly. "Commander?" He asked.

"Yes?"

"Will ensign Monroe be accompanying me in the shuttlecraft?"

Riker nodded in response to Data's question and then gave everyone the indication that they could now leave the conference room and resume with their usual duties.

Lieutenant commander Data was standing in the main corridor of deck eleven of the Starship Enterprise. He had only been stood there for a short while, and he wasn't sure whether or not he should press the comm panel which was located on the wall outside the door of the room. The room was the personal quarters on Ensign Gina Monroe. After quite some time of deliberation, he pressed the comm panel and spoke into it, "This is commander Data. Can I come in?"

Ensign Monroe took her time when it came to replying to Data. After waiting for a few dozen more seconds, with no audible response, he was starting to wonder whether or not he should just leave or if he should enter anyway. She was only an ensign, and he, being a lieutenant commander and a senior member of staff, could override the door. However, he had always been a polite individual and decided to stay that way.

Just when Data was about to press the comm panel again, he heard Gina Monroe's voice say, "Yes, you can come in."

The door slid open quietly and quickly and Data walked into the quarters to see Gina walking towards him. She had a hair clip balanced in between her teeth and she was holding her long dark hair up behind her head. She took the clip out of her mouth and used it to tie up her hair in a neat pony tail. "Was something wrong, commander?" She asked.

Data tried to erase the blank expression from his face. "No, everything is fine."

"Why are you here, then?" She asked rather impertinently, before rushing to add, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Your confusion is understandable," Data responded simply. "However, I came here because I understand that it is normal human practise to 'get to know' the people who they will spend inordinate amounts of time with."

For a slight moment, she wasn't sure what exactly he was referring to. Why would they be spending time together? Then, she remembered, saying, "Oh, you mean the shuttlecraft?"

He nodded.

"I have to admit, Data," she said, "I'm a little nervous about this whole thing."

He stepped forward and replied helpfully, "There is no need for you to be nervous. I will be accompanying you."

"No, what I mean is that I'm nervous about going with you," she said.

He cocked his head to one side, obviously a little confused with her last comment. "May I ask why?"

"Because… well… you're an android, and I…"

"Does that trouble you?" He asked calmly.

She shook her head and then frowned. "No, well… yes, it does."

"Why?"

"I've never been comfortable around technology. When commander Riker told me that I was to go with you, I tried to think of excuses as to why I couldn't go. But, none of it worked, so, here I am." She sighed and then slumped into a chair that was close by.

Data said nothing more, but just stood staring at her and tried to think of some way in which he could make her feel better. But, nothing sprang to mind.

"Are you prepared for our journey, ensign?" Data asked Gina as she and he prepared to board the shuttlecraft Kepler.

She nodded as bravely as she could. "Yes… I think."

She and him stepped into the shuttlecraft and took up their respective positions inside it. Data was sat on the left hand side of the vehicle, so that he could control the shuttlecraft itself and Gina was positioned next to him. She had the task of monitoring the craft's functions and systems so that they would know if anything was wrong.

"Are you?" She asked as she began to proceed with the routine take-off checks.

He turned his head to look at her. "I believe so."

As she watched his pale hands dance naturally and extremely quickly across the computer controls, she was forced to remember, once again, that this man who was sat next to her was not a human. He was an android. And, an android was a piece of technology.

Suddenly, the craft began to move forward steadily, whilst rising upwards at the same time and the Enterprise's shuttle bay doors were opened. The Kepler craft effortlessly and smoothly slid out through the open doors and found itself in the midst of the immense black void which was outer space.

Behind the Kepler, the Enterprise was rapidly getting smaller and smaller. After a short while, it became nothing more than a tiny little silver dot and then, it was nowhere to be seen. Gina had never been in a shuttlecraft before, at least, not whilst on an away mission. She had only just graduated from Starfleet Academy a mere year ago and serving aboard the Enterprise was her first ever proper assignment. So, naturally, she was nervous, yet also quite excited.

The journey was expected to take a few days, at the most. The sky seemed to stay the same for Gina. Although she could clearly see that the stars were changing and that the constellations were forever moving around, it all looked more or less the same to her. Of course, she was interested by the universe. She was fascinated. However, she was not in the mood to be trying to spot what galaxy clusters she could see or count how many red dwarfs there were. She was just staring out of the window.

Data took notice of her pensive expression. To him, it seemed as though she was worried about something. He hoped it wasn't something to do with him. "Ensign, is something wrong?" He asked her tentatively.

She had been in a dreamlike state and it took her a while to reply. "Sorry?" She asked as she looked up to face him.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked again.

"Oh, no, not really."

He knitted his brows, unsatisfied with her answer. "I should require you to elaborate on that response."

"I'm fine," she reassured him. Then, she added quickly, "Well, no I'm not. I'm really not."

Data considered what would be an appropriate response and then asked her politely, "May I ask why?"

"My parents died in a shuttlecraft," she replied quietly as she turned away so she wouldn't have to face him.

"I am sorry," he said quietly, "I did not know."

"No, no one does," she said. "They were training at Starfleet Academy when their shuttle's guidance systems broke and was destroyed by Jupiter's gravity."

Data didn't know how he should react. Should I say sorry again? Should I offer her someone to talk to? Or, should I just ignore her? He decided on what to do. "Is that why you did not wish for me accompany you?" He asked, being carefully with what he said.

"No, it's because… You're going to think I'm stupid for saying this…" she said as she sniffed a little.

"I will not think you are stupid. I will endeavour to offer you help in any way I can," he replied firmly and helpfully.

"I don't like technology. I'm scared of it," she said, ashamed and embarrassed with herself.

"And," he began carefully, "you are scared of me?"

"No, I don't think so, Data. You're one of the nicest people I have ever met. But, I'm just careful with who I trust, that's all." She turned to face Data and he could see how distressed she was. "I was orphaned when I was ten, Data."

"I did not know my parents either," he said.

She frowned and then retorted, without really thinking as much as she should have, "It's not the same thing."

"I suppose not," he said calmly.

"No, I… I didn't mean it like that," she replied quickly. "All I meant was that… I don't know what I mean. I'm just angry, that's all."

"I did not feel offended," he responded.

Gina made an attempt at a smile, and it worked, to some extent. A tear fell down her cheek and she reached up to catch it. There were no more tears, only the one. "I don't know why it's affecting me so much now," she wondered aloud. "It's been fiteen years since… since they died."

"Grief can affect different people in many different ways," he reminded her.

"I guess so," she agreed. "I'm sorry if I seem rude to you, Data. I don't mean to be. I hardly trust anyone. It's my fault."

"You should try and trust people, Gina," he said respectfully.

She frowned, unconvinced. "I don't think I can do that. It's not that simple. I don't even think I trust anyone. I can't. The only people I ever think I've truly trusted were my parents, but they're gone, so…"

"As far as I know, everyone in Starfleet can be trusted. But, all things considered, many people have called me naïve in the past, therefore, my word may not be that reliable."

She smiled and shook her head. "No, Data. You're right. I don't think you're naïve. You're just not like other people. Maybe, before we embarked upon this mission, I wouldn't have trusted you and I would've been scared of you. But, after talking with you for a few hours, I do trust you, Data. Thank you."

Data smiled somewhat in return and then continued with his duties.

Data heard a noise. It was reasonably quiet, but he could still hear it. He looked over to his side and saw the Gina was yawning. She had her hand over her mouth and her eyes were drooping.

"Gina?" He asked, interrupting her yawn.

She turned her head to face him and then suddenly looked alert. "Oh, sorry, Data. I'm just a little tired. Staying up for fifteen hours straight doesn't do me too much good."

"I understand that you are genetically enhanced, though," he pointed out logically.

"I am, but I'd rather not talk about it." She saw Data's expression become one which denoted disappointment, so added, "My grandmother cared for me once my parents had died. She told me that I was genetically enhanced whilst I was still developing as a baby."

"It is my understanding that genetically enhanced individuals possess exceptional capabilities. Would it not make you less susceptible to fatigue?" Data asked.

"Apparently not," she replied. "I wasn't enhanced in that way. It was only mentally. However, there was apparently some side effect, which made my epidermal cells grow abnormally."

"That is why you are not affected by the radiation," Data supplied.

She nodded in agreement with him. "Yes, that's what I think. I am also not vulnerable to all other types of radiation, even gamma rays."

"Intriguing," Data mused out loud. When he next turned to face Gina, she was fast asleep. She looked peaceful and comfortable. Data envied her ability to sleep. He wasn't tired, nor had he ever been tired, but he was fascinated to know what it would feel like to be tired. He, however, thought no more of it and continued to work.


	7. A mystery

Chapter 7: A mystery

Meanwhile, on board the Starship Enterprise, Dr Beverly Crusher was confused. In fact, she was very confused. She couldn't remember herself ever being this confused before in her entire life. She was sat in the office of the Chief Medical Officer and was staring intently at the small, high definition computer display. None of this makes sense, she thought to herself. The thing on the screen which she was staring at so very closely was a diagram of a blood sample of one of the Enterprise's crewmen.

"This can't be true," she said out loud, expressing her confusion.

Just at that moment, someone popped their head around the doorway, "Uh, doctor?" The man asked quietly.

The doctor looked up from the computer monitor and said, wearily, "Yes?"

"Can I come in?" He asked, although he was already actually inside the room, so there was no real point in asking her in the first place.

Beverly ignored this slight oversight and replied sweetly, "Of course. What can I help you with?" She asked.

"I'm… I'm Lieutenant Forbes, I was sent here to collect the results of my blood test," he ventured nervously. He had only just been assigned to this majestic ship.

She wanted to slap herself. "Oh, yes, yes," she replied hastily, trying to cover up the fact that she had completely and utterly forgotten who this man sat in front of her was. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep you in sickbay," she said, in a rather matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"What? Why?" He stammered, obviously confused and a little concerned.

"I need to run the tests again," she responded as she studied his perplexed expression.

He frowned and then arched an eyebrow. "What's wrong with me?" He asked nervously.

"I'm not too sure, but the readings are quite strange. I'll have to keep you in for observation."

"I have a shift now, in engineering," he said, as he stood up and began to leave the Chief Medical Officer's office.

"I'll clear it up with the captain," she said, before realizing that Captain Picard was, for all intents and purposes, missing, so she then added, "Commander Riker."

The Lieutenant nodded firmly and then thanked the doctor, before walking into the main area of sickbay. "Where should I go?" He asked her as he hovered rather strangely in the middle of the room.

"Over there would be good," she said as she gestured to an empty biobed.

Lieutenant Forbes sat down on the biobed as instructed.

"Commander," doctor Crusher began sternly as she stood around in sickbay. "Thank God you're here!" She sighed heavily with relief.

Riker stepped into the ship's sickbay fully and walked over to her. "What is it, doctor?" He asked, with a worried and fed up expression on his face.

She shook her head and sighed again, but this time more softly. "I don't know, to be honest. Only four hours ago, Lieutenant Forbes came to sickbay to collect his blood test results, and I found something anomalous in the tests, so I instructed him to stay here until further notice."

The commander nodded his head agreeably, "Yes, I know that. But, just slow down, doctor," he said to her, putting a reassuring hand on her arm.

"I'll try," she said, still quite unconvinced. "But, since then, seventeen other crewmembers have come in, complaining of a headache."

Commander Riker looked around the sickbay, and, sure enough, there were a lot more people than usual in biobeds, and the majority of them had their hands held up to their heads. "I see," he nodded in response.

"I don't know what is wrong with all of them. Now, Lieutenant Forbes is complaining of a headache too."

"Are there any other symptoms?" Riker asked nervously. He didn't really know all that much about things of a medical nature, but he wanted to try and help the doctor wherever he possibly could.

She shook her head sorrowfully. "Only the fact that they are all sweating a lot more than usual."

"Ah," Riker said nervously.

All of a sudden, Doctor Crusher heard a noise. It had been so unexpected and so out of the blue that it almost actually made her jump out of her skin. Then, a voice came loudly, "La Forge to Doctor Crusher,"

Then, she quickly realised it was just her combadge. She tapped it and said, "Crusher here, what is it Geordi?" She asked him, wearily. She had too much on her mind to be worrying about anything else.

"You're needed down in engineering," Geordi's uncertain voice came loudly. He then added, shakily, "It's urgent!"

She nodded and the replied quietly, and with a little sigh, "On my way."

Doctor Crusher made her way to engineering quickly, with Commander Riker striding along at her side.

Once in sickbay, Crusher almost fainted. The sight which she was met with was, for lack of a better word, a mother's worse nightmare. Geordi walked over to her, his arms flailing wildly, saying hastily, "I don't know what's wrong with him, I just went down to ship's stores and I came back to see him like this."

Crusher bent down to get a better look at the crewmember lying on the floor. He was fitting violently and shivering as if he were extremely cold. It was Wesley Crusher. She put her hand on his head, he had a very high fever. "Wes!" She said loudly and urgently. "Wes, can you hear me?"

No response came, he just kept on shaking violently and his eyes almost rolled back into his head. The doctor picked up her medical tricorder and scanned Wesley. She shook her head, everything seemed to be fine. Apparently, there really was nothing wrong with him. She sighed and angrily put the tricorder down.

Riker knelt down beside her and said carefully, "Doctor, I'll carry him to sickbay. It's not too far." He looked at her and saw her nod, so he slipped his arms cautiously under Wesley's body and picked him up.

Once they had gotten Wesley to sickbay, Crusher hunted around for a free biobed, and, thankfully, it didn't take her long to find one. Riker laid the boy on the bed gently and stood back, letting the doctor do her job properly. She called to nurse Ogawa, "Can I have 10cc's of kayolane?"

The nurse nodded obediently and quickly brought over the correct amount of kayolane.

Crusher carefully injected it into the side Wesley's neck and waited for it to have an effect. Soon, after no more than a few seconds, if that, Wesley stopped fitting and his body stopped moving. Crusher sighed a sigh of relief. The sedative had worked. Now that he was finally stable, she set about trying to diagnose her son.

But, before she could even look up at the readings which the medical scanner, she heard a horrific sound. Someone was being sick. She managed to trace the sound to Lieutenant Forbes, who was still lying on the opposite side of sickbay. Nurse Ogawa fetched a bucket, whilst some trainee nurses turned him over on his side, to prevent him from choking and managed to catch the most of the puke. But, the rest of it had hit the floor and two other nurses came to mop it up with rather disgusted looks on their faces.

Beverly crusher made her way as promptly and as carefully as possible to the ill lieutenant and picked up a medical tricorder. Again, much like when she had scanned Wesley, it showed that everything was fine with her patient. She was so very frustrated that she came very close to actually throwing the tricorder on the floor, but she managed to refrain herself from doing so and just calmly placed the tricorder on the cabinet which was beside the biobed.

Nurse Ogawa looked at the doctor and asked her calmly, "Should we sedate him too?"

Crusher nodded her head, rather uncertainly and held out her hand and Ogawa gave her the kayolane. Crusher administered it to Forbes and sighed, relieved, when he seemed to be stable.


	8. Crash down

Chapter 8: Crash down

"Data!" The ensign yelled, terrified. The scream almost sent a shiver down his spine.

He looked up from his work and then he turned so that he was facing her. "What is it?" He asked. His tone of voice, as always, was one of neutrality. He was absolutely calm.

Gina on the other hand, was the complete and utter opposite. "Are you seeing this?" She asked hastily as she gently but quickly prodded the computer screen in front of her, which was displaying the radar systems of their shuttlecraft.

He tilted his head to one side, a little confused. He had been so engrossed in his work that he had almost actually forgotten that they were on a mission. He studied the radar display and announced, "There appears to be some sort of missile—"

He was cut off quickly by Gina, who shouted, "I know, I know! And, it's headed straight for us!" She grew frantic.

Data did not panic, as it was simply impossible for him to do so. Instead, he was remaining calm; forever the voice of reason. "We should be able to outrun it," he pointed out, trying to be logical.

She managed to compose herself, to some extent. "I wouldn't be so sure," she muttered as she ran through the small craft's diagnostic systems, and, with a horrified and scared look plastered on her face, she announced, "Warp engines are down!"

"That cannot be possible…" Data said, truly dumbfounded. He then checked the diagnostic files for himself and relayed the information which they were both dreading so much, "You are correct. All warp power is lost."

She felt a thin film of sweat begin to form on her forehead and wiped it away with her sleeve. "We've lost impulse power too," she said quietly, regarding him intently. She knew that Data, of all people, would be able to think of something.

"I estimate that we will crash land within five minutes. The gravity of Hypnos is pulling us towards it. I see no feasible way in which we could evade its hold on us," Data replied, rather pessimistically.

"What about the missile?" Gina asked as she desperately tried to make an attempt at getting the shuttlecraft's impulse drive to work again. Her attempt was in vain. There was no way the shuttle would ever fly again. The circuits were fried and there was absolutely no chance of a viable recovery. It was the best shuttlecraft that the Enterprise had to offer, and now it was destroyed.

"If we do not crash, the missile will hit us, although our shields should hold."

And, sure enough, Data was correct. Only a few mere seconds later and the missile struck the shuttle's hard and durable outer shell. It made no hole in the bodywork, but a fireball began to erupt, where it had struck the shuttle's main propulsion systems. Looking out of the window, Gina could see the harsh landscape of Hypnos beginning to get closer and closer to them.

"Brace for impact!" Data bellowed loudly, but still somehow controlled. Gina could only just about hear him. His voice was basically drowned out by the high pitched screeching of the shuttlecraft's labouring engines going into overdrive.

And then, the shuttle stopped moving and everything went black. They last thing that Gina could remember was Data's voice warning her of the impending impact. Data opened his eyes and began to scan the area. It was dark and there was some sort of dust in the air. It was very, very dusty. He could barely see a thing. Once he had given his eyes more of a chance to adjust to the new surroundings, he turned his head, after blinking a considerable amount of times. He looked around, but he could see nothing. The air around him was, for lack of a better word, grimy and he could just about figure out that he was actually outside. The air was so polluted that they could have very well crashed into the middle of a massive bonfire, luckily, though, the impact of the crash had obviously extinguished the fire.

He reached into his utility belt and soon located his tricorder. He took it out and flipped it open. He tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't work. He was thankful, at times like this that he couldn't get annoyed, being an android. Otherwise, had that been the case, he may very well have lost his temper, and, in pure exasperation, thrown his tricorder away. However, he calmly placed it back in his utility belt and sat there for a while.

But, not for long. He then felt another thought cross his mind. Where was Gina? It had been so dusty that he hadn't been able to see her, even though she was actually still strapped in her seat next to him, as she always had been. He managed to unbuckle his own seatbelt, after a lot of struggling and grappling and then stood up. He did so very carefully and slowly. For, he had no way of knowing where they had crashed. They could be on the edge of a cliff, teetering over the brink of death and even the slightest movement could upset the balance and send them tumbling down to whatever was below.

Thankfully, though, when some of the dust left over from the impact had cleared away, he could see that they were not on the edge of some unforgiving and dangerous cliff. They had crashed into some sort of field. Well, it was not really a field anymore. Most of the vegetation had died out and there were no animals which Data could see nearby. There were tiny little metal disks which were embedded into the infertile soil. He could tell that, without even moving closer, they were unexploded mines. He knew better than to go over to one and double check.

"Gina?" He said to her softly and expectantly. He got no response and so he reached his hand up to her neck so that he could check her pulse. He sighed a sigh of relief when he found that she was still breathing.

He was about to pull out his tricorder when he was struck with the awful realisation that it didn't work. He hunted around in the small, confined cabin of the shuttlecraft for the emergency supplies. All the hyposprays and other types of visible medical supplies had been broken beyond any real repair or were simply destroyed. The cabin was very dark inside the shuttle. All of the computer systems were not operational and the polluted gases which swamped the outside air were more or less blocking out most of the sun. The star was a red dwarf, which do not give out much light or heat. It was considerably less powerful, less hot and less bright than the star which dominated the Sol system; the home of the planet Earth.

Data wondered what he should do. He didn't know whether he should try and move Gina, or if he should just leave her. He knew that it wasn't a good thing to move someone if they had a broken bone, but he didn't know if she did have a broken bone. He could, however, tell that her injuries were not extremely serious and that they were not indeed life threatening, so he decided to leave her be until she woke up. There was no way he could get any help. He and Gina were right in the middle of a warzone. He highly doubted that anyone would take pity on them.


End file.
